Tree carving. Again! What's taking so long?

Tonight was tree carving. I took a few more pictures and tried to focus on the face and head this time. At least I was able to take more pics during daylight hours! Hopefully you can see the progression as I chip away at it little by little. From the front it looked pretty good but then from the side, the face looked flat and "man-ish" But finally ti started to take shape and is now looking more female. I have no strategy, no plan, no method. I just jump in and chip away at it until it looks right or at least close. Her face is dangerously close to the rotten heart wood, so I have to be careful not to go much deeper. So a lot of pics tonight! One final parting shot. How you know when you are working with old chisels. I wasn't even that rough with this one, but this chisle is giving me a headache! I'll have to regrind it down AGAIN! ( no I didn't ruin the temper, it just chips out quite often)

Hummingbird feeder made easy! More tree carving.

As promised, the pictures on how to make a hummingbird feeder out of left over glass bottles. First, Let me say that I felt that the hummers needed another feeder because I have to steal them away from the neighbors. ( Don't worry, he gets all the finches and songbirds already) My primary method is to super sweeten the sugar water making all the birds in the area ( I'm guessing at least 3 , one male and two females until the eggs hatch) totally addicted to my feeders. the second is to keep the sugar water fresh. if it starts to taste funny ( kinda like hard cider) then I change it up. And last of all, keep at least a couple of feeders out otherwise they constantly chase each other away. The concept is easy, cut a hole in the lid of a small glass jar. Insert a small plastic tube and hot glue it in place so no leaks occur. Gorilla glue a hook on the top so it hangs vertically. Bingo! A cheap hummingbird feeder. I added a little orange plastic cup to add some color. I put it out a little late this evening, so I didn't have the opportunity to see if the birds had found it. For my next one, I might add a little more color and flowers. And for the rest of the evening, I worked on the log again. I had to mess around with the pictures because they were taken in the dark. hopefully you get the idea ad can see the form. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to get a picture of it in the daylight. This IS a blog about carving after all! Until then have a great week!

Seat carving... Look at all the foxes!

Ok, Not really, Just an observation that after posting back to back topics about foxes, someone ordered a seat with a fox on it. In fact, all of the seats that I carved up tonight are fairly non typical from the usual batch. ( look at earlier post. you will see lots of kokopelli's, peacocks, Hummingbirds, and bears.) So, to make a note of the fox seat, I decided to fold an origami fox. Looks more like a big ear kit fox, but I didn't want to take too much time making it perfect. I was also working on a hummingbird feeder, which is turning out pretty well at the moment. I'll have to detail the progress tomorrow with pictures of the finished product. And last but not least. Rashi the shop cat. I have not posted any shop cats in a while. what can I say? She loves me!

More Tree Carving!

This IS a carving blog after all! So I spent a small portion of the day hunched over this log shaping it into something more presentable. Not much to show really. With the bugs and uncomfortable position, It makes working a little more challenging. ( I don't know how those carvers in India do it with just a mat to crouch down on.) Well, at least the form is taking shape. I have been studying the wood, namely that the center is mostly damaged by fungus, making it more like cork than oak. ( notice the mask to help show where the face is going to be.)So I have to avoid going in too deep. Also there is a lovely knot that looks like an arm that I am trying to incorporate in the form. I'll have to See how much I have to work on it to make it look right. The rest of the night was spent sharpening the chisels that get dull from dropping them on the concrete ( GRRR!) Oh! And the last 4 episodes of Claymore are out! You can find them on UberAnime.com It's a great series! and I would recommend seeing them all! Enjoy! Ep 23 C22 Uber-Anime.com!

Carving for the Fourth

This is a carving blog, after all. I finished carving and painting 9 seats last night but was to tired to post anything. I Also started another tree carving, only this time I brought the tree to me. A windfall oak tree in the back! I took a large chunk of it and with a lot of industrious leverage, and mechanical advantage, I managed to pull it out of the woods and onto my back porch. ( SOLO might I add!) This might sound simple, but the log is quite large and I did not use any tractors, quad runners or any other motorized help. Besides they probably would have gotten stuck back there anyway. So I worked on it a little tonight. I'll post more tomorrow as it progresses.

Another fox sighting!

That's right. This time around midnight and about 2 miles from our last sighting, we saw another fox! This time Cheryl got a really good look at it. I only saw the tail since I was driving. And, once again, we did not have our camera. Bummer! Besides, it was probably too dark for any pictures to turn out. Now you might not grasp the magnitude of this, but foxes are not like deer or turkeys around here. ( we have LOTS of those!) We even see more skunks, coons and possums on a regular basis. But foxes! And then two nights in a row! Well, it's like winning the lotto of wildlife viewing. And, before I sign off.... Some more origami! Pegasus Gaylor!

Origami and Fox!

Tonight Cheryl and I were wonderfully surprised by a small RED FOX running around the neighborhood! We were thrilled! I had thought that I had seen one before on one of our midnight walk. Now I'm positive that it was one. He was so cute, but we could not have taken a picture because of the darkness. So I borrowed a picture off the web that was close. ( Small and a summer coat) And some Origami. One is made out of a Arby's Wrapper.

One seat before the Holiday

We found out that the shipping place will not be open on Friday. So all carvings had to be done tonight up to this point. Then our supplier had not replenished their stock. YEAH! So it';s a typical SNAFU that we only had one seat to carve up. The other two will just have to wait. With the seats having priority, I did not carve much on my big experiment. But I did get a little ways into it while the poly was drying. And! Another Origami Beetle. Slightly different, But still looks a lot like other beetles from previous posts. It goes to show that there is more than one way to fold a design. And one last thing. The NEW full metal alchemist Opening. To be honest. So far, it's like they are trying to cram the last 54 episodes into the first 16 of the new series. But Cheryl says it should pick up soon as it did in the manga. To all those Anime fans ...enjoy!

Perhaps on to something big!

Just finished 6 seats for tonight. With the last couple of day being rather uneventful, I thought I would try a new direction for my carving. Cheryl suggested that I start carving simple items and painting them white for an "artistic" touch. Well, I didn't get too far for a couple of reasons, One, I'm a little short on wood. Two, the little stash I had of wood, I had to cut and glue up so I could carve them up at a later time. If all things go well, I might be able to carve into them some time this week. We'll have to see. Oh! And since I didn't post anything yesterday. Here is a little look at one of my old Roe Deer carvings. Out of Cherry. Enjoy, I rather like the position of him.

Sunday Pier walk

Having gotten all caught up yesterday, today was a relaxing " do what you want" day. So Cheryl and I decided to avoid the crowded beach and head for the fisherman's pier. It definitely is easier to walk on than the singing sand of the shore. The perch are not in yet, so the pier is still rather sparse. When the perch are "in" the place is quite crowded. It should happen in a week or two. I did work a bit on my tree, but I have to say in the sunlight, I'm rather disappointed with it. I have been working on cleaning up my chainsaw so maybe at a future date, I'll go back and bring the log to me instead of carving back with the bugs! We'll see how it goes.